Zookeepers at Pocatello Zoo, Idaho, were worried when they noticed Shooter, a four-year-old elk, acting strangely at his water trough. Baffled, they watched as the animal – who is so massive some keepers are afraid to even enter his enclosure – tried to dip his hooves into his drinking trough, before attempting to dunk his whole head in the water.

Shooter the elk stands 10ft tall from his hooves to the tip of his antlers. However, they were amazed as the 10 foot tall Shooter lifted his head from the trough clutching a tiny marmot – a kind of large squirrel – between his jaws.

To the rescue! Shooter pulls the hapless marmot from his water trough. The gentle giant placed the hapless rodent down and nudged it with his hoof, as if checking it for signs of life, before calmly watching it scamper off into the bushes.

Zoo staff caught the entire rescue on camera. "It really was amazing," said Kate O’Conner, Pocatello’s education co-ordinator. "Shooter is such a huge animal. Some of the staff don’t like going in the enclosure with him so to see him being so gentle with a little animal was heart-warming.

"He was trying to dunk his head in the water, but his antlers kept getting in the way.Nobody could figure out why he was trying to get his head in, and then he started dipping his feet in.We were all completely confused, until we saw the marmot in his mouth.I think he had nudged the animal away from the edge of the bucket with his antlers and hooves so he could reach it with his mouth without his antlers getting in the way.It was very sweet!"

Down you go: Shooter gently lowers the tiny rodent to the ground.

Safe, but soaked and somewhat shell shocked, the lucky marmot seems happy to be back on dry land.

Zookeeper Dr. Joy Fox added: "We think Shooter sensed that the animal was in distress and decided to help.

"However, he could have just decided he didn’t like having something in his way.

"He spent quite a bit of time planning how to grab it."

The zoo plans to auction off Shooter’s incredible antlers when they are shed later in the year.

"We have our visitors that come everyday but we also have a huge mountain of folks that follow us on the World Wide Web," Reinartz said of the more than 29,000 Facebook fans. "We wanted them to feel like part of the community here."

Bogo, which stands for "Buy One Get One," is based on the male bison’s surprise arrival at the St. Paul zoo. No one knew the bison’s mother, named "Aunt Bea" after "The Andy Griffith Show," was pregnant when she arrived in November. Zoo staff was taken aback when a June 16 radio call notified them that Aunt Bea was giving birth, Reinartz said.

"We all just looked at each other and said, "What the heck,’ (and) ran out there," Reinartz said. "Sure enough, there was a baby bison laying on the ground next to its mother. A bunch of people around were taking pictures and videos. It was quite the scene."

Bogo beat out "Opie" (21 percent), another reference to "The Andy Griffith Show"; "Thundar" (13 percent), the name of North Dakota State University’s bison mascot; and "Bruno"

Knut, grown up and as a cub in 2007 - Michael Kappeler/Colourpress/JPI; Markus Schreiber/AP

He was a precious baby, with doll-like button eyes that charmed the public, but Knut the polar bear also made them pull out their wallets.

The Berlin Zoo’s most famous resident, who died earlier this year, generated more than $140 million in business globally, according to BusinessWeek.

There were raspberry-flavored Knut gummi bears, books, movies, stuffed animals and more. He even helped make the 167-year-old Berlin Zoo profitable, which happened only for three years while Knut was at the zoo.

But now what happens now to Knut’s brand? It could still be profitable, but the Berlin Zoo, which owns the rights to Knut’s trademark, is being very selective about licensing, choosing to keep Knut’s messaging about protecting the environment.

But some feel the zoo – and others who could profit – is losing out.

"A dead Knut brand could still make millions," Birgit Clark, a trademark attorney, said. Whether it does or not is yet to be seen.

A tiger cub born last weekend at Germany’s Stroehen Zoo has already experienced the loss of two mother figures in its short life. The cub was rejected by its mother shortly after its birth. Things began looking up when the cub was adopted by Monster, a wirehaired dachshund that belonged to the zoo’s owners. Then Monster also died (read below).

After Monster’s death, his daughter Bessi (shown here with the cub) took over mothering duties — indeed, a zoo representative said she “fell in love” with the infant and has proved a capable guardian.

More photos of Bessi and her as-yet-unnamed charge after the jump!

— Associated Press

German tiger cub loses second “mother” in three days

Stroehen, Germany– A tiger cub born in a German zoo at the weekend and rejected by its mother has experienced a further tragedy, as a dachshund which adopted the newborn was run over by a postman’s van, the zoo reported Wednesday.

‘We are totally shocked, he only wanted to go out to do his business,’ said Almuth Ismer, of the dog’s death. Ismer is the tiger cub’s carer at Stroehen Zoo in Lower Saxony.

The nine-year-old dog, named Monster, had shown great affection in caring for the tiger cub, which was twice its size.

The fatal accident happened Tuesday afternoon on a gravel path outside the home of the Ismer family. The only vehicle to frequent the quiet road was the daily post delivery, zoo director Nils Ismer said.

The dog appeared not to have seen the vehicle, as he was healthy and ‘always responded to his name,’ Ismer said.

The tiger cub has now been adopted by Monster’s one-year-old daughter Bessi, which ‘fell in love’ with the young predator after the death of its father, the zoo said.

It was unusual for such a young dog to develop maternal instincts, the zoo added. It is not uncommon, however, for dogs to adopt and raise other animals.

The German public had previously been captivated by the similarly tragic tale of Knut the polar bear, whose mother also rejected him shortly after birth. The unfortunate ursus then lost his human keeper to a heart attack, but retained his media stardom.

Billy, the zoo’s lone elephant, takes a dip as handler Vicky Guarnett tries to get his attention. On Monday, the City Council’s budget and finance committee met and discussed whether the zoo project should be shut down. Project is now on hold.

Background

We are very close to freeing Billy and stopping the practice of keeping elephants at L.A. Zoo.

Like other urban zoos across the country, L.A. Zoo is unable to provide the vast acreage needed by elephants, who can walk tens of miles a day in the wild and have home ranges of 120 square miles or more. Yet the Zoo is embarking on a 3.5-acre elephant exhibit renovation at a cost to taxpayers of $42 million that still will not provide the space elephants need. Even worse, this small amount of space is subdivided into four yards, and the planned barn can hold as many as 10 elephants. (The Zoo may initially hold fewer elephants but plans to breed.)

However, new information was brought to light that was not presented to the L.A. City Council when they voted in 2006 to approve funding for the exhibit renovation.

Council members were not aware of the zoo¹s tragic record of thirteen dead elephants since 1975 or the fact that more than half of those elephants did not live to age 20. An elephant¹s natural lifespan is 60 to 70 years.

They also were not provided the entire fiscal picture, including the projected yearly cost of maintaining elephants at L.A. Zoo. If the zoo were to hold eight elephants, it would cost the already cash-strapped City of L.A. about $1 million per year just to care for them.

Based on the above, Councilmember Tony Cardenas presented a motion in October that would stop the L.A. Zoo¹s elephant exhibit renovation and send its only elephant, Billy, to a sanctuary.

The motion was heard by the full L.A. City Council on November 19th, and now goes to the Budget & Finance Committee for further discussion in the first week of December. It will then return to the full council that same week for a final vote.

More than ever, we need your help to rescue Billy, who has been living in solitary confinement at L.A. Zoo for more than two years. Elephants are highly social animals, including the males, making Billy¹s confinement all that more inhumane. Billy displays zoochotic behavior, repetitively bobbing his head up and down, a result of stress and boredom. This behavior is not seen in wild elephants.

The most recent deaths at L.A. Zoo include 39-year-old Tara, an African elephant who died in 2004. Keepers found her down on the ground one morning and unable to get up due to severe arthritis. She died shortly thereafter.

Similarly, keepers found 48-year-old Gita down one morning, and she died later that day. She, too, had suffered from advanced arthritis, as revealed in her necropsy (her body was riddled with the disease). IDA exposed the terrible failure of Zoo personnel to take action after observing Gita down early during the night prior to her death. It was later determined that Gita may have needlessly and painfully suffered for as long as 12 to 17 hours before getting veterinary attention. She had also suffered chronic foot infections throughout her life, which eventually led to the partial amputation of one toe in September 2005. IDA requested an USDA investigation into Tara and Gita¹s deaths, the results of which are still pending after two years.

RUBY

After years of intense campaigning by IDA, Ruby made an historic journey in May 2006 from her tiny, off-exhibit enclosure at L.A. Zoo, where she was held alone, to her new home at the PAWS Sanctuary in Northern California. Ruby is thriving on more than 70 acres of rolling, grassy hills and happily shares the company of other African elephants!

What You Can Do

– Please keep all communications concise and polite. We are trying to influence city officials to support our position, and negativity will not get us the votes we need. Please don’t give anyone an excuse to vote against this important issue!

– If you are a Los Angeles resident, please write and call city council members and express your strong opposition to spending millions of dollars of your taxpayer money on an inadequate elephant exhibit at L.A. Zoo. Urge him or her to help send Billy to a sanctuary and to close the Zoo¹s elephant exhibit. Click here to locate your City Council member online. You can also dial 311 within the City of Los Angeles, or call 213-473-3231 from the Greater Los Angeles area.

– Please write to L.A. Mayor Villaraigosa at mayor@lacity.org thanking him for the great strides the city has made toward becoming more humane. Ask that he reject spending millions of dollars of taxpayer money on an inadequate elephant exhibit at L.A. Zoo. Urge him to send Billy to a sanctuary and to close the Zoo¹s elephant exhibit.

Save a Life…Adopt Just One More…Pet!

Everyday we read or hear another story about pets and other animals being abandoned in record numbers while at the same time we regularly hear about crazy new rules and laws being passed limiting the amount of pets that people may have, even down to one or two… or worse yet, none.

Nobody is promoting hoarding pets or animals, but at a time when there are more pets and animals of all types being abandoned or being taken to shelters already bursting at the seams, there is nothing crazier than legislating away the ability of willing adoptive families to take in just one more pet!!

Our goal is to raise awareness and help find homes for all pets and animals that need one by helping to match them with loving families and positive situations. Our goal is also to help fight the trend of unfavorable legislation and rules in an attempt to stop unnecessary Euthenization!!

“All over the world, major universities are researching the therapeutic value of pets in our society and the number of hospitals, nursing homes, prisons and mental institutions which are employing full-time pet therapists and animals is increasing daily.” ~ Betty White, American Actress, Animal Activist, and Author of Pet Love

There is always room for Just One More Pet. So if you have room in your home and room in your heart… Adopt Just One More! If you live in an area that promotes unreasonable limitations on pets… fight the good fight and help change the rules and legislation…

Save the Life of Just One More…Animal!

Recent and Seasonal Shots

As I have been fighting Cancer… A battle I am gratefully winning, my furkids have not left my side. They have been a large part of my recovery!! Ask Marion

Photos by the UCLA Shutterbug are protected by copyright, Please email at JustOneMorePet@gmail.com or find us on twitter @JustOneMorePet for permission to duplicate for commerical purposes or to purchase photos.

By JoAnn, Marion, and Tim Algier This past week, we lost our dear family member Rocky who had just outlived his “huep – na-napbdad”, Tom, by just a few months. His perspective would have been interesting!! Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge. When an animal dies that has been […]

By JoAnn, Marion, and Tim Algier This past week, we lost a dear family member, Rocky, who had just outlived his “human pet-dad”, Tom, by just a few months. It certainly would have been interesting to know what they thought and what experiences they had had in common!! Just this side of heaven is a […]

Bristol Palin: Fellow SixSeeds blogger Zeke Pipher has a great question: If they were dead puppy parts, or parts from homosexual babies, or babies that self-identified as adults, it’d be a different story. Meaning, it would be a story. But as it is, the fact that these fetuses don’t look like puppies, and their sexual […]

Family and friends of G.R. Gordon-Ross watch his private fireworks show at the Youth Sports Complex in Lawrence, Kan., Friday, June 28, 2013. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner) Mercury News – Originally posted on July 02, 2013: The Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays. Hot dogs, potato salad and, of course, fireworks. But Independence […]

Very few dogs have the experience of being parents these days and especially seeing their litters through the process of weaning and then actually being able to remain part of a pack with at least part of their family. Apachi is our Doggie Dad. He is a Chiweenie and here he is is watching his […]

By Marion Algier – Just One More Pet (JOMP) – Cross-Posted at AskMarion Anderson Cooper met Chaser, a dog who can identify over a thousand toys, and because of whom, scientists are now studying the brain of man’s best friend. Chaser is also the subject of a book: Chaser: Unlocking the Genius of the Dog […]

By Tamara – Dog Heirs – Cross-Posted at JOMP Quebec, Canada – Animals will be considered “sentient beings” instead of property in a bill tabled in the Canadian province of Quebec. The legislation states that "animals are not things. They are sentient beings and have biological needs." Agriculture Minister Pierre Paradis proposed the bill and […] […]

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Great Book for Children and Pet Lovers… And a Perfect Holiday Gift

One More Pet
Emily loves animals so much that she can’t resist bringing them home. When a local farmer feels under the weather, she is only too eager to “feed the lambs, milk the cows and brush the rams.” The farmer is so grateful for Emily’s help that he gives her a giant egg... Can you guess what happens after that? The rhythmic verse begs to be read aloud, and the lively pictures will delight children as they watch Emily’s collection of pets get bigger and bigger.

If You Were Stranded On An Island…

A recent national survey revealed just how much Americans love their companion animals. When respondents were asked whether they’d like to spend life stranded on a deserted island with either their spouse or their pet, over 60% said they would prefer their dog or cat for companionship!